Posted April 23, 2008
Finance professor Jonathan Scott brings complex financial concepts to life
Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching
| Jonathan Scott is praised by both students and colleagues for his ability to demonstrate how models and theories apply to the real world. “My goal is to show that finance is more than problem sets. I try to relate topics in class to actual events, such as the sub-prime crises,” he said.
Scott’s ability to make the theoretical practical is part of what has earned him a 2008 Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching. He also aims to open his students’ eyes to new perspectives on the financial world. “I want my students to see that making financial decisions is both an art and a science. It involves creativity and the ability to identify opportunities,” he said. Scott, associate professor of finance, consistently receives rave reviews for the extent to which he engages his students in, as one student put it, “thought-provoking conversations.” As a result, Scott often wins a number of converts to the finance major.
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 Photo by Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University
Jonathan Scott, an associate professor of finance, is pictured in front of a rendering of the Irwin R. Gross Capital Markets Room, a trading simulation room, where he will be able to hold finance classes and Owlfund meetings.
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“Jon has won all of the teaching awards in the Fox School of Business and Management. Without a doubt, he is one of the very best teachers we have,” said Fox School Dean Moshe Porat. Along with 14 consecutive years of teaching in the Fox honors program, Scott is known for developing the department’s undergraduate capstone course, a highly successful private equity course in the M.B.A. program and a course in financial risk management for the newly launched M.S. in financial engineering. Demonstrating his passion for teaching, Scott continually brings new technology into the classroom. One colleague refers to Scott as a “compulsive innovator” who is always finding a creative method of introducing content to his students. Scott is equally valued for his wealth of personal experience in banking and finance. Using his firsthand knowledge of the financial services industry, he spends countless hours outside of class mentoring students, and he has helped numerous students land great jobs by grilling them with tough questions during mock interviews. This year Scott has also played a major role in the Owlfund, a student-managed investment fund with an expected launch date of January 2009. Under Scott’s direction, students will identify stocks, track performance and invest real money. After receiving his master’s and doctoral degrees from Purdue University, Scott taught at Southern Methodist University for five years. He then joined the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas where he served as senior vice president and chief financial officer. He joined the Fox School of Business as associate dean in 1991. Starting in 1995, he served nearly two years as acting dean of the Fox School.
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